Business Insider: First year analyst to the 99 percent: “The finance industry is a scam”

In an open letter posted on Reddit, a first year Wall Street analyst is doing his part to help Occupy Wall Street — by explaining how some of the things they're most upset about actually work.

"I'm writing this in hopes that the OWS movement can have a better understanding of the hedge fund industry and the financial markets. With OWS being the zeitgeist of current politics, I think it's important to know how exactly the hedge funds, along with the financial markets are destroying the 99 percent."

He goes on to explain what a lot of people know about hedge funds and financial markets. They, the hedge funds, are titans, and you, the people, can't compete. Only the super-wealthy (the 0.1 percent) can play the hedge funds' game, and that means they're the only ones who can win in financial markets.

"Hedge funds. These guys are basically the vehicles of choice for ultra-rich people to get into the financial markets, besides family offices and private wealth managers. What are hedge funds? They are funds that have a 1-5 million deposit minimum, cater to the mega-rich, and can invest in anything without regulatory restrictions, use leverage to pump up their exposure by 15x, and pretty much eat up a vast majority of the industry's profits."

Business Insider: A Wall Streeter fires back at first-year analyst

Another thing. You can't know what these guys know. You don't have analysts working around the clock, and those analysts know about financial instruments you've never heard of.

"Financial markets are rigged…if you go any of the traditional retail routes, you are utterly screwed facing off against the hedge funds."

You, the average person, are paying exorbitant fees and/or ridiculous spreads in the market.

"The worst part by far is that the government "encourages" you to put your money into your 401k through 'tax exemptions,' which basically puts your money with the lowest tier of the financial industry — pension funds, retail wealth managers, and retail asset managers. These guys have sh-t strategies like long-only or domestic equity (which means they only invest in American stocks), and have nowhere near the capability and reach of hedge funds. These guys are even more likely to lose your money than you are, and even worse is they will take a 2.35% cut while doing so. And you get penalized when you try to take your money out early. How f***ed up is that."

This analyst is availing himself to anyone who has questions, and his bottom line is this:

"The finance industry funnels money from the masses to the ultra rich, through hedge funds which dominate all of the financial markets."

Linette Lopez writes primarily for Money Game, but dabbles in Clusterstock and Europe. She also edits the site's podcasts.

Robert Johnson is the military, defense, and features reporter for the main page of Business Insider.

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